It started with a letter ...Carol is married to a man she doesn't love and mother to a daughter she doesn't understand. Crippled with guilt, she can't shake the feeling that she has wasted her life. So she puts pen to paper and writes a Letter to the Universe.Albert is a widowed postman, approaching retirement age, and living with his cat, Gloria, for company. Slowly being pushed out at his place of work, he is forced down to the section of the post office where they sort undeliverable mail. When a series of letters turns up with a smiley face drawn in place of an address, he cannot help reading them.

Sending to someone from the UK birthday group

Happy birthday �� Hope you have a fun filled day!!

Thank you so much for this wishlist book & all the other wonderful birthday goodies x

I'm not sure where I first heard about this book, giving me cause to add it to my wishlist but it wasn't the gentle, light-hearted tale I'd anticipated.

What I did get was a story that was heart-breaking & sad yet very funny in a Sue Townsendish sort of way. The story revolves round two people both enduring different types of loneliness. Carol is stuck in a loveless marriage & to relieve her frustrations about her life she takes to writing anonymous letters & posting them. As they are addressed solely with a smiley face they end up in the "lost letters" department at the Post Office. Soon-to-be-retired Albert is given the task of sorting these rejects. Lonely & unwillingly to give up work, Carol's letters give him something to look forward to & a relationship builds between the two of them, albeit a rather one sided one - after all Carol has no idea anyone has read her letters!

Now I'm often disparaging about how things are wrapped up at a book's conclusion, & if anyone had told me how "Lost & Found" & found ended, I would have thought it sounded a like bad cliche..... & rather a twee one at that! In reality, I found it beautifully fitting & it left me with a sad smile & almost a lump in my throat.

Adding to my "Debut Novels" Bookbox

Taken from the Debut novel bookbox

I loved this book. It is funny and moving in equal measures. Albert is a wonderful character.
It had a lovely ending too.

Sending for a LFL.

One of seven books received in a parcel from dolph1n. Thank you so much.

Found in my Little Free Library after it had been away for several months. Removed to move on.